Ten on Tuesday – 3

Wikipedia says superstition is a credulous belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge. The word is often used pejoratively to refer to folk beliefs deemed irrational, which is appropriate since irrational means “not based on reason”. This leads to some superstitions being called “old wives’ tales”. It is also commonly applied to beliefs and practices surrounding luck, prophecy and spiritual beings, particularly the irrational belief that future events can be foretold by specific unrelated prior events.
I know, I know, in this modern age and times, believing in superstitions is weird. I know, being from Science stream in school and college, there are scientific logics to everything, but still there are some things I do believe in.

Magpies : Now, this thing I have been believing since school days. In our school, whenever the big play ground was empty, one could see magpies moving around. We had a rhyme related to their sighting…1 for sorrow, 2 for joy, 3 for letter, 4 for toy, 5 for silver, 6 for gold, 7 for secret not to be told, 8 for something, 9 for brass and 10 for you will surely pass. While 1 magpie is the dreaded one, but seeing 2 magpies together, always brings a smile. And even now, when I see a single magpie, I start looking for another one and it so happens many a times that the second one is not to seen and I keep seeing that lone magpie, making me believe that there is going to a bigger sorrow in store!! Last week, I was going for a party and saw 4 magpies. And I won a nice gift in Housie!! And was I happy??

Getting hiccups means that someone is thinking of you.

I never cut nor allow the 2 men of our home to cut nails in the evening or night. No idea about this one. Have been doing it coz Mom never allowed us to do so!

If a crows sits on the balcony and caws, there would be visitors coming over. It’s been proven many times!

Also, if while rolling chappatis, if the ball of dough falls down, then too visitors are expected! This has been proven too.

Making a wish when one sees a falling star will result in the wish coming true! I need one now!!

Making a wish by placing a fallen eye-lash on back of your hand and blowing it away, makes it come true.

Whenever one is leaving home and you hear a sneeze, stop a while and then leave home after some time.

Hair and clothes should not be washed on Thursdays. Now I practice this as per convenience!

If you bite your tongue or lip, somebody is cursing you.

I don’t know, if these should be called superstitions. I believe, these are all harmless beliefs and does not cause any harm to anybody!
Do you believe in any such ‘beliefs”?

Guilty of believing all except that Thursday no washing thing. Don’t know about that. Also, mom never allowed us to cut nails and hair on Saturdays and Mondays. No idea why. When we bit our tongue, mom said that we would get something sweet.

I believe in all except for no 8 and 9 .I had Allergic Rhinitis so sneezed all the time ,there was no point .Washing cloth is like a disease to me ,i have to have at least two loads of laundry every day .I can’t imagine my day starting without the gentle sound of a busy washing machine.

Another thing that i follow is to chant few mantras (mentally)when any of the family member goes out of house for work/school/stroll.

Heard of most of them except perhaps for 5, 8 (if u sneeze, then someone is thinking of you! is what I’ve heard) and 9 (the clothes washing part is new to me!), though I don’t believe in it.

One experience we’ve had is, we bought our car on a Tuesday, the very next day a bus dented it bad (there is this popular belief that new purchases shouldn’t be made on Tuesdays)! But I’m too skeptical to believe in superstitions ;P

Gosh! we played the magpie game so much in school. Interestingly, the original was for a ditty for pregnant woman which went:1 for sorrow2 for joy3 for a girl and4 for a boy5 for silver6 for gold7 is a secret never to be told8 is a wish and9 is a kiss10 is a bird you must not miss

I was editing a document on Common Magpies and found this in Wikipedia:

In Britain and Ireland, there are a number of superstitions regarding magpies

* A single magpie is associated with bad luck (see rhymes below) * One should make sure to greet magpies when they are encountered in order to either allay bad luck or encourage good luck as related to the number of birds and therefore their place in the Magpie poem. Common greetings include “Hello Mr Magpie” “How is your wife/where is your wife?”, “Good Morning/Evening Sir” and other marks of respect. * Upon seeing a lone magpie one should repeat the words “I defy thee” seven times. * On seeing a lone magpie one should pinch the person they are walking with, if they are alone they are to pinch themselves. The custom in Devon is to spit three times to avert ill luck. * If a lone Magpie is seen, one should salute it to show you respect it. This formality can be forgone if the Magpie looks directly in your eyes, which shows it respects you.

A little over the top,huh? So u see, it is just not us Indians who are superstitious.

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Hey! I am Shilpa Garg.
Welcome to A Rose is a Rose is a Rose! I’m glad you’re here. Here you will find thoughts, views, opinions and observations of things around me, as they are, not as they should be. Read More…